Superamphiphilic Polyurethane Foams Synergized from Cellulose Nanowhiskers and Graphene Nanoplatelets. Issue 2 (1st December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Xiaotan; Liu, Dongyan; Sui, Guoxin
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials interfaces. Volume 5:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2017-12-01
• Subjects: cellulose nanowhiskers -- graphene -- polyurethane foam -- superamphiphilicity; Materials science -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/admi.201701094
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2196-7350

Abstract

Abstract: Superamphiphilic materials are attracting significant attention because of their unique affinity to both water and oil. It is generally accepted that graphene‐based assemblies are hydrophobic. Here, novel superamphiphilic polyurethane (PU) foams by the synergetic effect of cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs) and graphene nanosheets (GNs) are reported. This process involves the creation of CNWs' base coating on the surface of PU network prior to GN coatings to obtain superamphiphilic surfaces by the simple dip‐coating method. Wetting behaviors of the foams start to turn from hydrophobicity into superamphiphilicity by increasing the concentration of the CNWs up to 0.5 wt%. The hydrophobicity recovers when the concentration of CNWs reaches 1.0 wt%. The superamphiphilic foam (CNWs' concentration is 0.75 wt%) exhibits high storage capacity for water and various organic solvents up to 22–24 times of its own weight. Moreover, the coated foams can be reused for absorbing liquids for more than 20 cycles without losing their superamphiphilicity, exhibiting good reusability and durability. The discovery of this superamphiphilic foam is of great significance for the development of superwetting materials and finding their applications in oil emulsions purifying and catalyst anchoring fields. Abstract : In this paper a novel superamphiphilic graphene‐based material prepared through a simple dip‐coating method, which is different from the conventionally coating graphene on polyurethane foams via reduction of graphene oxide is reported. Wetting behavior can be controlled by increasing the amount of cellulose nanowhiskers. The superamphiphilic foams can be reused for adsorbing liquids for more than 20 cycles without losing their superamphiphilicity.